Detail, Albemarle County Deed Book, 1904 (240K)
Albemarle County Courthouse
Location: 501 East Jefferson Street, Court Square, Charlottesville. Historical records are available in Room 225 in the Historical Record Vault Room.
Hours: 8:30-4:30, M-F
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Deed Books
Anytime property changed hands, was placed into trust, or put up as security, the transaction should have been recorded with a deed, which are collected in chronological order in hundreds of deed books. Sometimes leases, other contracts and bills of sale,
or commissioners' reports also appear in deed books. Deeds contain names
of the parties to the transaction, the terms of the deal, a detailed description of the land in question (sometimes these descriptions include
a drawing of the plat, or survey, of the land), and names of witnesses to the exchange. While deeds are obviously useful for tracing the pedigree of a particular piece of land, taking careful note of both the parties and the witnesses to deeds can
provide information about family and
community networks and resources. Deeds are worth reading carefully, for sometimes they provide clues to other sources. For example, the land may have previously been the subject of a lawsuit.
Deeds are indexed alphabetically by last name of both grantor and grantee. Races of parties are not indicated in a recorded deed.
Will Books
Wills collected in these volumes reflect the personal and real property holdings of rich and poor, black and white. Even more than from deeds, wills demonstrate familial and communal connections, as individuals most frequently left their possessions to
family members and named very close friends and business associates as
executors of estates, while both family and friends served as witnesses to a will's signing. Wills also suggest answers to questions about debt, business networks, class, and material culture,
especially when an account of the estate's administration by the executor is recorded. By the twentieth century, however, most estate transactions were recorded in separate Inventory and Accounts of Sales books (see below).
Wills are indexed by the last name of their writers, and beginning in 1912 a separate index is kept of heirs named in wills. Race is not indicated for parties to a will's signing.
Inventory and Accounts of Sales Books
If an individual died in debt or if it was difficult to determine the value of an estate for purposes of dividing it amongst heirs, it was the legal responsibility of the executor of that person's estate to inventory the dead individual's possessions,
have them appraised, and place them on public sale. Everything a person owned at the time of his or her death, from furniture to household tools to books to barnyard animals, is listed in these inventories as is the value of the items. Also recorded is
who purchased which items at the estate sale. These documents can prove
valuable for questions about class, material culture, and consumerism, and lists of purchasers further help in investigations of familial and friendship connections, as individuals
close to the deceased often purchased estate items to help pay the debts of the estate as well as to acquire a keepsake to remember the deceased individual by. (Occasionally, estate sales are included in will books, so it is worth checking both sources
for such materials).
Inventory and account books are indexed by the name of the deceased, but the race of the deceased is not indicated.
Fiduciary Books
If a court placed property or an estate in trust, it appointed an executor (where a will exists) or an administrator (where an individual died intestate) also known as a fiduciary. Fiduciaries were legally responsible for providing an account of the
assets they held in trust and an explanation of monies coming into their care or being disbursed. These accounts were submitted to the court and then recorded in fiduciary books. Fiduciaries are indexed by the owner of the property or estate,
but are not divided racially.
Law Order Books
Whenever the Circuit Court for Albemarle County issued any legal decision, the county clerk recorded it and transcribed his notes into law order books. The kinds of materials available in these books vary, as the circuit court had at least some
jurisdiction over a wide-ranging set of legal matters. Most orders deal with instances when individuals were brought into court to face criminal or civil prosecution. Orders therefore most commonly deal with felony and misdemeanor criminal cases,
from indictments to continuances to pleas to sentencing, and with lawsuits for debt. But the court dealt sometimes with other civil matters as well, such as individual tax adjustments and matters related to wills (many civil matters had been turned over
to other local government agencies by the late nineteenth century, such as the Board of Supervisors). It is important to remember that law order books simply record the procedure and outcome of such matters, and the final decisions of the court.
They do not contain trial transcripts, jury and witness lists,
or detailed descriptions of crimes and other lawsuits.
Beginning in 1938, Albemarle County (but not Charlottesville city) began keeping separate law order books for criminal cases. All law order books are indexed at the front of each volume alphabetically by the last name of the plaintiff (or in criminal cases, by "Commonwealth v. ______"). Some books have multiple indexes, so be sure to look carefully. A cumulative index of law order books is available beginning in 1904, also indexed alphabetically by plaintiff. The races of individuals involved in civil and criminal cases are occasionally, but rarely, indicated.
Chancery Order
Books
Legal matters sometimes arose that fell outside the common law and the jurisdiction of the circuit court. In these instances, chancery (or "equity") courts convened to sort through the matter. Most commonly, chancery courts
dealt with issues related to the interpretation of wills and deeds, the administration of estates, and the supervision of fiduciaries, but other chancery issues included the granting of divorces and establishment of alimony, the hearing of creditors'
bills, and assignment of dower
interests in land. Chancery causes, like wills and deeds, can help trace communal and familial networks (sometimes family histories are made more clear in these suits than in any other primary source). These cases also often open windows into the more
contentious sides of human relationships, and sometimes reveal
acrimonious battles over finances. Like law order books, these volumes only contain the orders of the court. Transcripts of the cases
themselves are not available at the courthouse for cases prior to the late 1930s.
Chancery order books are indexed, but only by the name of the plaintiff. It helps to know the complete name of a case and its year. Each case also is given a number, which is critical to know if one desires to find the case papers themselves, which are either in the courthouse or the State Library in Richmond. The races of participants are not indicated in chancery order books.
Land Books
Land books contain the annual records kept of all land owned in Albemarle County. For each year, owners are listed in alphabetical order, followed by a description of the location of the land owned, its acreage, and,
if any of the land in question changed hands during the previous year, a
brief comment on the exchange (which can be confirmed and more information gleaned through a cross-reference with the deed books for that year). The land books bound and typewritten on the shelves in the
courthouse are abstracts of the original land books and leave out information such as the tax assessment on the property. These original volumes are stacked, somewhat haphazardly, above the shelves holding chancery papers and inventory books.
Original land books are divided into wards and into white and "colored" landowners (see description of land books under "Charlottesville City Courthouse" for more a more detailed discussion of these documents). Land books are not cumulatively indexed.
Board of Supervisors Minutes
Most activities of the Board of Supervisors deal with public improvements, such as supervision of roads, bridges, and other public byways. Recorded in the minutes are the appointments and reports of commissioners investigating the costs and
damages that would be undertaken by public projects, and accounts of the appropriations for such activities. By the early twentieth century the Board of Supervisors also bore responsibility for a wide array of public services, having taken over
jurisdiction from the circuit court, including the burying of paupers, the arrangement of public vaccinations, the health care of the indigent, and appointing overseers of the poor and maintaining the poor house (activities like these were later expanded
and placed under the
aegis of the Board of Public Welfare). Minute books are full of disbursements for such activities, and are useful for tracing the development of Albemarle's road and bridge system and the role of the local government in providing public services.
The Board of Supervisors minutes only run through 1920 and most are not indexed, but they are arranged chronologically.
Marriage Registers and Marriage Licenses
Each entry in a marriage registers consists of a single line running across
two pages and contains the names, races, birthplaces, residences,
ages, and previous marital status (whether single or widowed) of parties to a marriage, the occupation of the husband, the names of the couple's parents, the date of the wedding, and
the name of the person performing the ceremony. Registers contain important information for tracking family genealogies, and also can allow for drawing useful information about church membership, race, occupational status of individuals,
age demographics, relationships between people living in the city and county, and the
networks of families linking themselves through marriages. Original marriage licenses are also available at the courthouse, stored in boxes and file drawers. These documents essentially contain
the same information as the register, but also often note the religious affiliation of the individual performing the ceremony.
Each book of registers (arranged chronologically) is indexed by the names of the parties to the marriage, both male and female. Licenses are not indexed, but are arranged chronologically.
Charter Books If an individual or group of individuals wished to acquire corporate status, they had to draw up a corporate charter indicating their purpose, their bylaws, and a list of trustees. They then had to pay a charter fee and file an application with the State Corporation Commission. If approved, they filed the charter with the county clerk. A wide variety of organizational charters for Albemarle County are collected in the charter books, from private businesses to fraternities to clubs to churches and charitable organizations. These can be useful for looking not only at local businesses but also for tracing the development of organizational life among both blacks and whites.
Charlottesville City Courthouse